Monday 25 August 2008

Wild blackberries

I am particularly lucky to have a nature reserve just 5 minutes walk from my house. The area is a 'green wedge' that cuts right into the city, the whole place is full of wildlife, hundreds if not thousands of rabbits there as well as unusual birds and plants.
Of particular interest to me are the Blackberry bushes, literally thousands and thousands of them line the paths, at this time of year all of them laden with juicy and delicious fruit. I find it impossible to walk past blackberries without stopping to grab some, they are far too tempting for me to pass up!

So last week I went down there myself box in hand and got picking. It's a painful job as the cuts and scratches on my arms testify! It also turned my hands an interesting shade of purple! It is well worth it though, I filled two boxes, which was enough to make this crumble tart and have some for the freezer.

Imagine a pie crossed with a crumble and you have a crumble tart, pastry case with a crumble topping. I used my wild blackberries and some fantastic Bramley apples that I was very kindly given. Apples and blackberries are perfect companions and Bramley apples are probably the very best cooking apple.
I served this tart still warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

2 comments:

Christine said...

Blackberries! There used to be a great blackberry bush at the house I lived in when I was 10, then we moved. :(

The crumble looks really good, especially the crust and topping.

Sylvie said...

Great looking tart. I'm also thinking blackberry jam and apple and blackberry crumble!